


Mistletoe (from the Grove of Someone Or Other)

by fennelseed



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Mistletoe, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 20:34:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5019493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fennelseed/pseuds/fennelseed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magic mistletoe. Merlin/Arthur. Canon era. That tells you everything, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mistletoe (from the Grove of Someone Or Other)

**Author's Note:**

> Does the world need yet another Merthur fic with all the tropes, including magic mistletoe? No, surely not. But I saw the idea as a prompt on LJ's Merlin-writers community (a YEAR OLD prompt, no less), and my crazy brain wouldn't shut up about it. So. Here it is, in case anyone in the world does feel they need it.

The box sat open on one of Gaius' cluttered tables. Merlin, rushing past on his way out, paused to peek into it. Dull green stems and leaves, little white berries, tied in several small clumps with red ribbons: ah, yes, he recognized this plant. He picked a piece up. 

"Those aren't for you," Gaius said, coming up behind him.

Merlin dropped the clump back into the box, turned, and smiled innocently. "Mistletoe? Have big plans for Yuletide, Gaius?"

"Don't be ridiculous. It's a special commission. It's from the Grove of Cliodhna." And Gaius gave him the eyebrow lift that usually came with significant information.

As if Merlin was supposed to know what the Grove of Cliodhna was.

"Oh," he tried. "So it's…for…"

"It's harmless fun, but it's best if no one knows I've had anything to do with obtaining it. I have a few noble families who request it every year, and I get it for them as a special treat. If I didn't, I worry they might buy some more dangerous version from some fraud at the marketplace."

Dangerous? Merlin was still lost. "Right. Then you…eat it? Because I thought mistletoe was poisonous."

"No, of course you don't eat it. But it's--" Someone rapped upon the door, then opened it a second later. King Uther. 

"Gaius," the King said. "Have you learned anything new about the injured men yesterday?"

"Yes, Sire. I'm almost certain it was a drunken fight with pitchforks, not a mystical beast of some sort."

"But are you certain? It's been sorcery too many times already this year, Gaius. We must be sure!"

 "I'd be happy to explain my findings and evidence to you, Sire. If you'd accompany me." Gaius turned to Merlin, then flicked a warning glance toward the box of mistletoe. "Leave those, Merlin. You may go."

Merlin nodded, gave a polite bob of his whole body toward the King, and watched Uther and Gaius cross the room and exit. He looked over at the mistletoe again.

It was quite pretty as mistletoe went. And he did intend to decorate Arthur's rooms today for the holidays, just as a nice gesture. Why not include mistletoe, particularly some special sort from the Grove of Someone Or Other, which conveyed some possibly-mystical type of "harmless fun"?

After all, if the harmless fun meant inspiring or enhancing the kisses that usually took place beneath mistletoe--well, that would be a lovely thing to do for Arthur. Whoever Arthur wanted to kiss.

Which probably wasn't Merlin, but, you know, if it _was_ …after all, there were certain lingering looks Merlin had caught Arthur giving him lately, and if those meant what he hoped they did, and if all the two of them needed was an excuse, like, say, mistletoe…

Merlin's heart drummed. He snatched one little red-ribboned bundle of mistletoe, tucked it inside his jacket, and darted out of the room.

 * * * 

Arthur's room was looking festive indeed if Merlin did say so himself. Holly and ivy around the mantelpiece, fresh candles, a fragrant evergreen wreath on the door, red ribbons spiraling up the bedposts, and--final touch--the mistletoe, which Merlin had opted to hang above the edge of Arthur's bed, between the curtains, mainly because it was easier to reach that than the ceiling. Although maybe the ceiling was better? He could magic it up there…

But now Arthur came in, finally returned from the long feast. So Merlin left the mistletoe where it was and turned, hands folded behind his back.

"That dinner went on for-ev-er," Arthur complained. "And everyone was _so_ tedious. Ugh, I'm exhausted." He sat on his bed--not quite beneath the mistletoe--and stuck out his legs.

Merlin took the hint and knelt to tug off Arthur's boots. "Right. Well, then, your room's the nice comfy place to be, isn't it?"

"Mmf," Arthur agreed. He undid his belt, wriggled out of his trousers, and dropped them onto the floor next to Merlin.

Merlin tried not to think about how he was kneeling before the trouser-less Arthur, while they were alone together in a bedchamber. Same way he tried not to think about it every night. He rose, dutifully unlaced Arthur's jacket, and took that off him too, leaving him in just his loose white shirt, socks, and underlinens. "Doesn't your room seem _extra_ comfortable tonight?" Merlin hinted as he gathered the armful of clothes.

Arthur squinted at him suspiciously. "Why? Have you done something bizarre to my bed?"

"Bizarre? No. Nice, I would say. I've made it extra nice."

Arthur glanced around for about half a second, apparently noticed nothing out of the ordinary, and rolled his eyes. He scooted a foot or so toward the head of the bed. "It's cold. Get me the robe."

The ungrateful, oblivious…Merlin clamped his teeth shut and stopped the mental list of adjectives, which always started turning themselves into things like _handsome, delicious, quite sweet when you get to know him_ if he let them ramble on too long. He crossed the room, dropped Arthur's clothes into the laundry basket, picked up the heavy silk robe, and brought it back to the bed.

He leaned down to drape it onto Arthur's outstretched arms--and immediately got sucked onto the bed as if some kind of magnet was pulling him. "Oof!" He fell against Arthur, knocking him onto his back, and lay sprawled halfway on top of him, their upper bodies on the bed, their legs still off it.

"Ow! Merlin! What are you--get off me!"

"I--I can't." He was actually stuck. Like the hands of some invisible giant were holding the two of them together.

"What do you mean, you can't?" Arthur was shoving at Merlin's chest with his considerable strength, even using his knees, but it wasn't working.

"See? I can't--I don't know what--ow, stop, you're bruising me."

"Well, at least get--there--" They had struggled to a side-by-side position, but were still squished up against each other. Arthur looked around in bewilderment. "What in the _world_ is going on?"

Merlin stopped as his glance hit the mistletoe hanging directly above them. "Oh. Oh, um. Oops."

"What do you mean, 'oops'?"

"Well, it's, um--I'm afraid it's magic."

"Yes, I can _guess_ that, Merlin." Arthur's face was three inches from Merlin's, glaring at him with his cheek against the blankets.

"But don't worry, I think it's harmless. That is--so I heard." Merlin at least had the presence of mind not to add "Gaius said." Best not to implicate Gaius in obtaining magical plants.

" _What_ is harmless? How do you know what kind of spell this is?"

"It--it's just a hunch, but I think it comes from the mistletoe." Merlin nodded toward it.

Arthur turned his scrunched, confused face that direction. "Since when is there _mistletoe_ above my bed?"

"I've been waiting for you to notice," Merlin said patiently. "Look, ribbons too. And the wreath? Did you even notice the wreath?"

"Oh. So sorry, Merlin. Yes, by all means, let's talk about how the room is decorated right now. _That's_ important." Ah, Royal Sarcasm. Merlin was intimately familiar with it.

"It _is_ important, if it's the mistletoe doing this to us. And _excuse me_ for making your room look nice for the holidays."

"Look--let's--rrrgh." Arthur hauled himself to a sitting position, which dragged Merlin upright along with him. Their thighs and shoulders were still crunched together; Merlin actually had to struggle to keep from getting shoved onto Arthur's lap by the force of the mistletoe. "If you knew it would do this, why'd you put it up there?" Arthur demanded.

"I didn't know! That is--I heard a rumor that it came from the Grove of…Something. I forget. Apparently it makes it more fun, that's all I heard. I didn't know it'd do _this_."

"Fun. Yes. That's the word." Arthur composed his face into a look of resignation. "All right, let's try breaking out of it. Maybe if we do it together."

Merlin nodded, since, really, it didn't seem like suggesting a kiss was going to go over too well at the moment. Unfortunately.

"Count of three," Arthur said. "You go that way, I'll go this way." He nodded to indicate opposite directions, off the bed. "One, two, three."

He lunged. Merlin lunged the other way.

They rebounded against invisible walls, collided, and crashed back onto the bed. This time Merlin did in fact land in Arthur's lap.

Arthur gazed coolly at him from an inch away, his annoyed deadpan Arthur look now, running his tongue around his teeth beneath closed lips.

"Sorry," Merlin breathed. "Um. Okay. Different theory. And--I'm sorry about this, but--"

"Yes, Merlin, tell me your theory. Why not. It's not as if I have anywhere else to go."

"Right, it's just, it's mistletoe, yeah? So what it wants, I mean what the spell wants before it lets us go, is probably…for us to kiss."

A spark of what might have been outrage transformed Arthur's eyes. Merlin held his breath, waiting for the explosion. Then, to his shock, Arthur burst into laughter. Giggles, you might even call them, if Arthur weren't a prince. No, they were giggles even though he was.

Merlin grinned cautiously. "I know, it's ridiculous."

"I don't know why I'm laughing." And oh, dear, the golden boyish princely grin, it was too adorable. "Well. I do. Of all the ridiculous things I've ever heard you say, Merlin, I never thought I'd hear that one."

"Mistletoe magic, nothing else for it, right?" He was still sitting on Arthur's lap. Arthur still wasn't shoving him off.

Arthur's laughter subsided to an amused smile, and he tilted his head, regarding Merlin. "And you'd do this? You'd kiss me?"

Merlin felt a blush roast his cheeks. Probably totally obvious, given how pale his skin usually was. "Course," he said, trying to sound casual, but his voice had gone a bit high and light. He couldn't stop gazing into Arthur's blue eyes. From closer up than he'd ever gotten to look at them before. "That is…if you wanted. It--it isn't about what I want. It's about me being a good servant. Doing whatever you need."

"Yes, that's always such a priority for you."

He could smell Arthur's skin, the fine wine on his breath. Distracting, to say the least.

"Honestly, the sarcasm," Merlin said. "Is it necess--"

"Shut up." And then Arthur kissed him. Unexpectedly, quickly, a rough smack against Merlin's lips, over before Merlin could even react.

They both tried to tug apart, failed, and frowned up at the mistletoe.

"I can't believe you made me do that," Arthur said dryly. "Any other brilliant theories?" Still. He wasn't pushing Merlin off his lap.

"Okay, well," Merlin said, "we could try again? I mean, with me actually kissing _you_. Because I wasn't that time. I was getting kissed _by_ you. Maybe the mistletoe wants, you know, a real kiss."

"Now you're insulting my kisses. This from my supposed 'good servant'."

But the twinkle in his eyes gave Merlin courage. "Shut up, my lord." He stopped Arthur's lips, capturing them with his own--lightly, softly, none of this rough warrior kiss business. He'd show Arthur how to give a proper lingering kiss, one that a piece of enchanted Grove Of Whatever mistletoe would recognize.

Arthur held still at first, then his hand settled onto Merlin's chest. Possibly to push him away, but he didn't actually. So. Maybe just to touch him.

Merlin paused to say, right against Arthur's mouth, "Must make it real, now, remember." He leaned into the kiss again.

This time Arthur responded, his mouth moving hesitantly, as if he was learning something new and fascinating. On Merlin's chest, Arthur's fingers curled and grasped the lapel of his jacket, and slowly pulled Merlin closer--though really, they were already nearly as close as they could get. Merlin let his eyes flutter shut. He slipped a breath in through his mouth, mid-kiss, and felt Arthur open his mouth further. They tilted their heads, locking the kiss deeper.

Arthur's other hand clamped around the back of Merlin's head, keeping him there. Merlin's hands itched to do something too--one he sank into Arthur's soft hair, the other he spread on Arthur's thigh--oops, no, there was bare skin there, at the edge of the long shirt. Merlin jumped that hand to Arthur's muscled ribs instead.

Somewhere in the lovely haze descending around his brain, Merlin sensed the mistletoe's hold lifting, releasing. He could move his legs and shoulders more freely. The kiss had worked. Spell broken.

But they were still kissing. It was involving their tongues now, getting slick and determined, making Merlin's body ache most deliciously. Merlin was leaning hard into the embrace, and maybe that was what inspired Arthur to ease backward until he was on his back again, dragging Merlin down with him. Merlin rearranged himself to lie flush on top of Arthur, a knee on either side of him--still kissing--and oh, like this, he could definitely feel how much Arthur was enjoying this. Soon Arthur rolled him over with a triumphant growl, pinning Merlin under him on the soft mattress, and shifted into his savage-warrior type of kisses. Which this time Merlin really was all right with. Very much so.

Arthur stopped after a minute and lifted himself on his elbows, breathing hard. He frowned up at the mistletoe. "Is it making it like this? I mean--I don't usually end up doing this with mistletoe kisses."

"Well. The mistletoe usually isn't above your bed, I assume."

Arthur studied Merlin's face, looking mystified, and ran his fingers through Merlin's disheveled hair. "But this has to be magic. I never expected to do this with _you_ , and for it to be so--well, I mean--I never thought you'd be interested..." He scowled at the mistletoe again. "Hang on. It's not holding us captive anymore, is it?"

Merlin was grinning, delighted at the romantic almost-confession that had just escaped Arthur's lips. "It let us go a few minutes ago. Didn't you notice?"

"Oh." Arthur stayed lying on top of Merlin, glancing around the room, distracted. And still quite aroused, Merlin couldn't help noticing. As was he.

"You've been wanting to kiss me but you didn't think I'd be interested?" Merlin asked. "Aw, Arthur."

Arthur glared, and swatted him on top of the head. "I'll have none of your pity. Servant."

"I told you, I would have done whatever you wanted." Merlin held Arthur's gaze, and let his voice go husky. "I still would. And not because I'm your servant."

A fond glint entered Arthur's eyes. He tweaked one of Merlin's ears between two fingers. "Then I haven't been imagining things. Those looks you've been giving me. Shocking, really."

"What about the ones you've been giving me?" Merlin countered.

"Noticed those, did you? I'm impressed. Maybe you aren't the most idiotic man ever."

Merlin smiled, and said with more than a dash of mischief, "Well, my lord, if the spell's broken, I suppose I could go now. I know you're exhausted."

"Hmm." Arthur pretended to consider that, then pinned Merlin's arms above his head. "I order you to stay here tonight." Their gazes held, and Merlin was sure Arthur could see--and probably feel--the flash of desire that seared through him at those words, this position. "If you want," Arthur added, making it sound like a casual afterthought.

"Oh…I suppose I will." Merlin acted indifferent as best as he could when he was pinned to the bed and lifting his groin subtly against Arthur's. "Otherwise the mistletoe might get you into trouble with someone even uglier than me."

Arthur smirked. "Let's take it down now so it can't." He got up--much to Merlin's regret--and ripped down the mistletoe, and threw it over to the floor in front of the closed door. "There. Tomorrow I want you to send it back to whatever grove it came from." He settled back down onto Merlin. "I am, however, glad you decided to use it for your decorations. Makes me quite fond of magic tonight, in fact."

Merlin smiled, wrapping his arms around Arthur's strong back. "That's promising," he murmured, mostly to himself.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing."

Just as Arthur leaned down, seeking another kiss, Merlin exclaimed, "Cliodhna! I remembered the grove. It's the Grove of Cliodhna."

"Merlin."

"Yes."

"Not important right now."

"No."

In the next breath they were kissing again. Soon they had scooted all the way onto the bed. Not long after that, they discarded all their clothes, piece by piece. And a little while later, Arthur was making the kinds of gorgeous intimate sounds Merlin had only ever fantasized about hearing him make, and Merlin's own throat was making those sounds right back because of all the dirty, heavenly things their hands and mouths were doing.

And finally, very late in the night it must have been now, they lay sated in a sleepy embrace with the sheets rumpled all around them. The candles had gone out and the fire was down to embers.

"What if," Merlin whispered into the sweaty hair over Arthur's ear, "…it turned out I could do magic?"

Arthur chuckled. "Why? Can you?"

Merlin's heart thundered. "I…I wonder sometimes. Like the way I could sense what the mistletoe was doing…" Incomplete truths, but so much more than he would ever have dared say before tonight. It was making him tremble.

"Mm, well. If you have special powers, I'm sure I could think of good uses for them."

"Really? You wouldn't…chop my head off?"

Arthur slid a heavy hand back and forth over Merlin's chest, fingertips swirling in the hairs there. He kept his eyes closed, his body slumped against Merlin like a dozing cat's. "After all we did tonight--thanks to magic, no less--you think I'd do that to you? Don't be stupid."

"Really, though? Because…"

"Merlin. It's late. If it turns out you _can_ do magic when you wake up tomorrow morning, let me know. We'll discuss it then." Arthur yawned wide enough to make his jaw click. "As I told you," he mumbled, "I've been pleasantly surprised by magic tonight. And by you." He said the last three words in a naughty growl, and lazily stroked Merlin from shoulder down to hipbone.

"Thank you," Merlin whispered.

"You're shivering." Arthur hugged him closer. "Pull the blanket up, stupid."

"Okay." Merlin obeyed, and melted into Arthur's embrace, feeling his trembles subside a little more with each breath. "Goodnight."

"About time we got to 'goodnight.' I told you _hours_ ago that I was exhausted, and _what_ did you make me do instead?"

"Sorry." Smiling, Merlin found Arthur's mouth and kissed it, infusing the gesture with all the fervent thanks, all the love, he couldn't quite put into words tonight. But maybe he would tomorrow. Or another day.

And maybe--no, definitely--he'd send a basket of the finest sweets in Camelot to the Grove of Cliodhna, for the people who harvested mistletoe.

Just as soon as he learned where exactly it was.

 


End file.
